Seoul stocks sharply down on tech slide
South Korean stocks extended losses late on Tuesday morning as big chip shares sharply lost ground, tracking an overnight slump in US techs.
After opening 0.34 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 389.16 points, or 4.27 percent, to 8,725.39 as of 11:20 am, reports Yonhap news agency.
Overnight, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said a "very good foundation" had been established for negotiations toward a final agreement with Iran, while mediators also reported progress in the talks.
However, U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq declining 1.3 percent amid concerns about major technology companies.
In Seoul, blue-chip tech shares slid.
Semiconductor heavyweights SK hynix and Samsung Electronics shot down 5.34 percent and 4.95 percent, respectively.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, fell 8.57 percent.
Automobile shares were also among the losers.
Top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 8.43 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia declined 6.41 percent.
The Korean won was trading at 1.533.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., up 3.3 won from the previous session.
Meanwhile, the country's financial regulator said on Tuesday that it will draw up a roadmap by October for the introduction of the "T+1" stock settlement system.
Currently, South Korea adopts a "T+2" scheme, where stock trading settlement occurs two business days after the trading date, in order to ensure settlement stability.
Earlier this year, President Lee Jae Myung proposed the idea of shortening the stock settlement period to increase market efficiency.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said the shortening of the settlement period would help market efficiency, and draw up measures by October this year.
The FSC also said the Korea Exchange (KRX), the operator of the country's stock market, will take measures to extend stock trading hours, including the introduction of an after-hours trading system in September.
